Skiing in the States is getting expensive. The prices have definitely shot up, but we’re also feeling the ‘retirement’ effect of not having quite as much money coming in as we used to. So, we’re having to make a few compromises. For this trip, we didn’t want to compromise on ski time, so we had to compromise on where we stayed and what type of accommodation we went for. 

In Vail, we have previously stayed in the village of Vail itself. Vail is a wonderfully up-market ski town with lots of hotels right in the village. The trouble is these are mostly 4* and 5* hotels. Even where we had stayed before, The Evergreen Lodge, was looking a bit too pricey at the bottom end of the Vail hotel market. Add to that the fact that most hotels don’t include breakfast and you are looking at adding on quite a considerable sum for eating out every day too. So, we decided to look for a condo this time and also looked a bit further afield. We found the Vail Racquet and Mountain Club in East Vail. As is quite typical with condo blocks in the States, it appears that the apartments themselves are privately owned and then let out through the club. As such, there is no standard in the décor or fittings; they are all slightly different. I think you can also find them on direct selling sites such as vrbo but we booked through Booking.com and it was very easy. We booked a 1-bedroom apartment and it was great. The bedroom was tastefully decorated and there was a small closet with a laundry area off the bedroom as well as an ensuite WC. Just outside the bedroom door was the main bathroom and then you moved through into the open plan kitchen, living and dining area. It was comfortable for just the two of us. We were up on the third floor and, to be honest, it was a bit of a pain carrying the skis up and down the external wooden staircase every morning and afternoon. Being a club, there is a good sized spa area with two large outdoor hot-tubs. Very nice for relaxing in at the end of the day and quite sociable. 

There’s a bus that stops just outside of the resort so it’s a 5-minute walk through the parking lot and out on to the road to catch the bus and then a 20-minute ride down to Vail where the bus deposits you at the main bus station. 

For our second week, we transferred to Beaver Creek and to another apartment. This time, The Lodge at Brookside. We booked this direct through Vail Resorts with discount as we had the Epic season pass. This apartment really was luxuriously fitted out. There was a large bedroom with an extra-large double bed and another bedroom as well with bunk beds which served well as a dressing room. The kitchen was well equipped and there was a bar to sit at, which was handy for drinking the beers and margaritas that we picked up from the liquor store just down the street. There was also a comfortable sitting area. We really did feel at home here and were able to cook delicious meals most evenings rather than going out. We were very grateful to our friend Martin who lives in Eagle and kindly offered to give us a lift between Vail and Beaver Creek as well as helping us with a supermarket run. 

Getting to the ski area was a short walk across to the parking lot and the free shuttle up to the resort. The only slight niggle was that the walk was along the side of the busy highway with no footpath. 

The skiing at Vail and Beaver Creek is amazing. Both areas have acres of terrain and lots of variety. Vail is known for its back bowls which you have to see to believe. There is so much skiing to be had back there and you can ski from bowl to bowl and back again with some superb snow. We were lucky the week we were there as there was plenty of snow and all of the back bowls were open. There aren’t that many lodges on Vail mountain and several of them are privately owned clubs. We generally stopped for lunch at Two Elk which is a large timber lodge accessed from the front side but you can easily get back to it from the back bowls as well. The back bowls all have exotic names: Sun Down Bowl; Sun Up Bowl; Tea Cup Bowl; China Bowl; Siberia Bowl; Inner and Outer Mongolia bowls; Game Creek Bowl and Blue Sky Basin. I think our favourite was Blue Sky Basin. Game Creek Bowl is also home to Game Creek Lodge. This is a private club but on certain evenings it is open to the public for dinner. You ride the gondola up from the base area and then take a snowcat across to the Lodge. We had one of the best meals we’ve ever had up there the very first time we went to Vail. It is expensive, but it is definitely one to do for a memorable occasion if you’re feeling flush.  

Beaver Creek also has lots of different ski areas. From the base area, the main lift up the front side is the Centennial Express. From there we would usually head off to the left to do some of the gentler runs around the Cinch Express lift area or Red Buffalo lift runs before dropping down into the Rose Bowl if the snow was looking good. You can then scoot back down to the base area and head up the Strawberry Park chair. From the top of that you head right and take the trails leading down to Bachelor Gulch and Arrowhead Village. It is a lovely long cruise along a gentle ridge with the option of diving down into the trees in a couple of places. From the top of Bachelor Gulch you can access McCoy Park. This used to be a fantastic Nordic area but has now been turned into a beginners’ alpine area with blue and green runs. It’s a shame really as we had a lot of fun learning to Nordic skate ski here a few years ago. In fact, we had one of our funniest days on skis here. We’d hired some Nordic skate skis and boots from the hire shop and taken the Strawberry Chair to the top of the mountain. As we approached the top of the chairlift, we shouted to the liftie to ‘slow down’, he shouted back that he had slowed the chair down and we shouted out ‘well slow it down a lot more!’ too late, we came into the exit zone, stood up onto our skinny skis and both of us fell down in a heap. Not the most elegant of starts. From there, we shuffled our way across to the cross-country area, in fits of giggles, almost getting run over by a fleet of snow cats grooming their way up the hill. I was laughing so much, I could barely stand up. 

Beaver Creek is the home of steep, black and double-black diamond runs on Grouse Mountain and Larkspur. There’s an event they hold here in February every year called the Talons Challenge where the challenge is to ski all of the double-black diamond runs. Most of them are mogul runs as well. We’ve skied a few of them, but haven’t managed to do all of them in one weekend. One of the most famous runs is the Birds of Prey which is where they host the men’s downhill World Cup races. We skied that just after the race had taken place so the run was slick and icy. I’m amazed we managed to do it and stay upright on our skis as there was one bit where we turned into it, dropped into a tele and then the next thing you know you’re at the bottom of the steep bit without doing any turns. It is like an elevator shaft. 

Beaver Creek has the strapline ‘Not Exactly Roughing It’. It has a ‘full service’ attitude and tries to make everything as easy and comfortable as possible. This is evident in the escalators that take you up to the ski area. Or the little minibuses that shuttle you around the resort. Or the cookies that appear at the bottom of the slope at 4pm every day. There’s also a good apres-ski vibe at the base area and at this time of year you usually can sit in the sunshine with a cookie in one hand, a beer in the other, listening to a live band. You can’t get much better than that. Beaver Creek, Not Exactly Roughing It – I like it. 

Trip details:

Date of travel: March 2023

British Airways flights Inverness to Denver, return £1,758.14 for 2 adults including ski carriage and seat reservations

Vail Racquet club apartment £2,060.67

The Lodge at Brookside, Beaver Creek £2,706.24

Epic Pass £1,494.41 for 2 season passes

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